Cuiyan Wang’s research while affiliated with Huaibei Normal University and other places

Recent calls and general interest have increased to strengthen preschool and special education’s inclusivity to empower early childhood teachers’ professional development. In response, this study explores the mediating role of early childhood teachers’ attitudes toward inclusive education in the relationship between perceived organizational support and career success and the moderating role of empathy in the mediation path. A questionnaire survey conducted among early childhood teachers from a city in Shandong Province was used as the research instrument. The analysis, based on 414 valid responses, found that (1) perceived organizational support had a significant positive impact on career success; (2) inclusive education attitudes played a partially mediating role between perceived organizational support and career success; and (3) empathy negatively moderated the first half of the mediation path. Compared to more empathetic participants, perceived organizational support had a significantly stronger positive predictive effect on attitudes toward inclusive education of less empathetic participants. This result confirms the relationship between early childhood teachers’ organizational support, inclusive educational attitudes, and career success. In addition, it provides an empirical reference for improving early childhood teachers’ inclusive education knowledge and competency.

1) Objective Many studies confirmed the association between low levels of vitamin D and symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as lower immunity. COVID-19 pandemic mobility restrictions and avoidance of going outside to dimmish the possibility to contract the virus could lead to hypovitaminosis D3 in individuals if it was not accompanied by appropriate supplementation. This study aims to examine if vitamin D3 supplementation correlates the level of anxiety symptoms in a group of students from 9 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. (2) Methods An online cross-sectional survey was distributed amongst Polish (N=1202), Bengali (N=1580), Indian (N=484), Mexican (N=234), Egyptian (N=566), Philippine (N=2076), Pakistani (N=500), Chinese (N=504), Vietnamese (N=68) students (N=7214). The survey was opened on 12th April and closed on 1st June 2021. Respondents’ anxiety level was measured by the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) and to assess their vitamin D3 frequency supplementation students were asked to answer closed-end questions. Students were divided into 3 groups: 1) regularly supplementing vitamin D3 (RVD), 2) often supplementing vitamin D3 (OVD), and 3) no supplementation (NVD). (3) Results Participants who never took vitamin D3 had significantly higher level of anxiety than other groups (p<0.005). Generally, students from two subgroups: NVD (Me=12.00±10.33) as well as OVD (Me=10.00±10.68) presented moderate levels of anxiety according to DASS-21, and those, who regularly took this supplement were in the mild range (Me=8.00±10.97). Pakistani participants regularly taking vitamin D3 had significantly lower anxiety levels (Me=14.00±7.84, moderate range) compared to NVD (Me=18.00±9.56, severe range) (p<0.005) and OVD (Me=19.00±8.25, severe range) (p<0.001). On the contrary, Bengali students in the NVD group presented the lowest anxiety levels (Me=6.00±9.50, normal range) compared to participants in RVD (Me=14.00±10.07, moderate range) and OVD (Me=8.00±9.55, mild range) (p<0.001). In Egypt students that never (Me=0.00±9.89) and regularly (Me=0.00±14.38) took this supplement had anxiety symptoms at the normal range, while often users had moderate levels of anxiety (Me=14.00±13.20) (p<0.05). In the remaining countries (Poland, the Philippines, China, Mexico, Indie, and Vietnam) there noted no significant differences between the frequency of taking vitamin D and the level of anxiety (p>0.05). (4) Conclusion During the Covid-19 pandemic students that never used vitamin D3 supplementation showed the highest level of anxiety symptoms compared to participants that used regularly or often in the whole study group. Nevertheless, the same pattern was confirmed only in a group of Pakistani students. Most countries had different outcomes or the frequency of vitamin D supplementation did not affect the level of anxiety symptoms. There are some explanations for these results: 1) the country policy during the pandemic was different in every country, and not all had specific lock-down issued; 2) the frequency of supplementation did not always reflect the serum level of vitamin D3, which could have a different impact on student’s well-being; 3) taking vitamin D3 could be potentially a coping mechanism, so students that were more prone to higher levels of anxiety were more frequent users of the vitamin. This study showed light on this phenomenon, but more studies are needed to fully understand it.

Living in high expressed emotion (EE) environments tends to increase the relapse rate in schizophrenia (SZ). At present, the neural substrates responsible for high EE in SZ remain poorly understood. Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) may be of great use to quantitatively assess cortical hemodynamics and elucidate the pathophysiology of psychiatric disorders. In this study, we designed novel low- (positivity and warmth) and high-EE (criticism, negative emotion, and hostility) stimulations, in the form of audio, to investigate cortical hemodynamics. We used fNIRS to measure hemodynamic signals while participants listened to the recorded audio. Healthy controls (HCs, [Formula: see text]) showed increased hemodynamic activation in the major language centers across EE stimulations, with stronger activation in Wernicke's area during the processing of negative emotional language. Compared to HCs, people with SZ ([Formula: see text]) exhibited smaller hemodynamic activation in the major language centers across EE stimulations. In addition, people with SZ showed weaker or insignificant hemodynamic deactivation in the medial prefrontal cortex. Notably, hemodynamic activation in SZ was found to be negatively correlated with the negative syndrome scale score at high EE. Our findings suggest that the neural mechanisms in SZ are altered and disrupted, especially during negative emotional language processing. This supports the feasibility of using the designed EE stimulations to assess people who are vulnerable to high-EE environments, such as SZ. Furthermore, our findings provide preliminary evidence for future research on functional neuroimaging biomarkers for people with psychiatric disorders.

Introduction: During COVID-19 pandemic, it was noticed that it was students who were mostly affected by the changes that aroused because of the pandemic. The interesting part is whether students’ well-being could be associated with their fields of study as well as coping strategies. Objectives: In this study, we aimed to assess 1) the mental health of students from nine countries with a particular focus on depression, anxiety, and stress levels and their fields of study, 2) the major coping strategies of students after one year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: We conducted an anonymous online cross-sectional survey on 12th April – 1st June 2021 that was distributed among the students from Poland, Mexico, Egypt, India, Pakistan, China, Vietnam, Philippines, and Bangladesh. To measure the emotional distress, we used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21), and to identify the major coping strategies of students - the Brief-COPE. Results: We gathered 7219 responses from students studying five major studies: medical studies (N=2821), social sciences (N=1471), technical sciences (N=891), artistic/humanistic studies (N=1094), sciences (N=942). The greatest intensity of depression (M=18.29 13.83; moderate intensity), anxiety (M=13.13 11.37; moderate intensity ), and stress (M=17.86 12.94; mild intensity) was observed among sciences students. Medical students presented the lowest intensity of all three components - depression (M=13.31 12.45; mild intensity), anxiety (M=10.37 10.57; moderate intensity), and stress (M=13.65 11.94; mild intensity). Students of all fields primarily used acceptance and self-distraction as their coping mechanisms, while the least commonly used were selfblame, denial, and substance use. The group of coping mechanisms the most frequently used was ‘emotional focus’. Medical students statistically less often used avoidant coping strategies compared to other fields of study. Substance use was only one coping mechanism that did not statistically differ between students of different fields of study. Behavioral disengagement presented the highest correlation with depression (r=0.54), anxiety (r=0.48), and stress (r=0.47) while religion presented the lowest positive correlation with depression (r=0.07), anxiety (r=0.14), and stress (r=0.11). Conclusions: 1) The greatest intensity of depression, anxiety, and stress was observed among sciences students, while the lowest intensity of those components was found among students studying medicine. 2) Not using avoidant coping strategies might be associated with lower intensity of all DASS components among students. 3) Behavioral disengagement might be strongly associated with greater intensity of depression, anxiety, and stress among students. 4) There was no coping mechanism that provided the alleviation of emotional distress in all the fields of studies of students.

Despite the vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) being reported to be safe and effective, the unwillingness to vaccinate and doubts are still common. The aim of this international study was to assess the major reasons for the unwillingness to vaccinate in a group of students from Poland (n = 1202), Bangladesh (n = 1586), India (n = 484), Mexico (n = 234), Egypt (n = 566), Philippines (n = 2076), Pakistan (n = 506), Vietnam (n = 98) and China (n = 503). We conducted an online cross-sectional study that aimed to assess (1) the percentage of vaccinated and unvaccinated students and (2) the reasons associated with willingness/unwilling-ness to the vaccine. The study included 7255 respondents from 9 countries with a mean age of 21.85 ± 3.66 years. Only 22.11% (n = 1604) of students were vaccinated. However, the majority (69.25%, n = 5025) expressed a willingness to be vaccinated. More willing to vaccinate were students in informal relationships who worked mentally, used psychological/psychiatric services before the pandemic, and studied medicine. There are cultural differences regarding the reasons associated with the unwillingness to vaccinate, but some 'universal' might be distinguished that apply to the whole group.

Despite the vaccine against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) being reported to be safe and effective, the unwillingness to vaccinate and doubts are still common. The aim of this international study was to assess the major reasons for the unwillingness to vaccinate in a group of students from Poland (n = 1202), Bangladesh (n = 1586), India (n = 484), Mexico (n = 234), Egypt (n = 566), Philippines (n = 2076), Pakistan (n = 506), Vietnam (n = 98) and China (n = 503). We conducted an online cross-sectional study that aimed to assess (1) the percentage of vaccinated and unvaccinated students and (2) the reasons associated with willingness/unwillingness to the vaccine. The study included 7255 respondents from 9 countries with a mean age of 21.85 ± 3.66 years. Only 22.11% (n = 1604) of students were vaccinated. However, the majority (69.25%, n = 5025) expressed a willingness to be vaccinated. More willing to vaccinate were students in informal relationships who worked mentally, used psychological/psychiatric services before the pandemic, and studied medicine. There are cultural differences regarding the reasons associated with the unwillingness to vaccinate, but some ‘universal’ might be distinguished that apply to the whole group.

Introduction: Despite its great success, COVID-19 vaccination has been met either with trust, hesitation, or negation from the general population, including students. Objectives: The study aimed to assess: 1) the rate of COVID-19 vaccination in a group of students from Poland, Philippines, Bangladesh, India, Egypt, Pakistan, China, Mexico, and Vietnam, 2) the three most important reasons why these students do not want to be vaccinated. Material & Method: We conducted an online cross-sectional study asking students if they are vaccinated or not and what were the reasons for the decision. The study included 7220 respondents from nine countries, 65.11% (n=4702) females and 34.87% (n=2518) males. The mean age of responders was 21,81 ± 3.30. Results: The majority of respondents was unvaccinated, 77.55% (n = 5,601). The lowest percentage of unvaccinated students was found in Pakistan (32.61%) and the highest - in China (97.41%), where the highest rate of past COVID-19 infections was observed - 98.20%. The three most common reasons not to get vaccinated differed between the countries. Worries about the side effects of vaccines were listed as one of the most common reasons in Poland, India, Pakistan, and Egypt. Not being at risk to get an infection was important for the students from the Philippines, Vietnam, China, Bangladesh, Mexico, and India. The reasons for not being and not wanting to be vaccinated were statistically different (p=0.0004). Conclusion: The difference between the rate of COVID-19 vaccination and the reasons for being unvaccinated among students was observed in analyzed countries.

INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a change of cigarette smoking habits of many students, but little is known about its relationship with their well-being. This study aimed to assess: 1) smoking behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic, 2) the relationship between cigarette smoking and the intensity of the emotional distress among students. METHODS AND MATERIALS We conducted an online cross-sectional survey that was distributed amongst Polish, Chinese, Egyptian, Pakistani, and Mexican students (N = 3012) from 12th April to 1st June 2021. The respondents were asked several questions regarding their smoking habits. Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) was used to assess the intensity of emotional distress. RESULTS 10.7% of students of the whole group before the COVID-19 outbreak and 9.1% during the pandemic smoked cigarettes. Of those who used cigarettes before, 26.3% increased smoking, while 36.2% decreased or quit smoking completely. The highest number of smoking students was found in Pakistan (14.8%) and Poland (12.2%) and the lowest in Egypt (3.9%) and China (3.0%) (p < 0.04). The most substantial changes regarding the number of smoked cigarettes were observed in Poland (6.7% increase) and Mexico (12.0% decrease). A positive relationship between the number of smoked cigarettes (both during and before the pandemic) and all DASS-21 components was observed. The severity of emotional distress in the students who changed their behavior was significantly higher than in the non-smokers and regulars in the number of smoked cigarettes (p < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS 1. During the pandemic the number of smokers decreased and the highest number of smoking students was found in Pakistan (14.8%) and the lowest in China (3.0%). 2. Changing smoking habits and the number of smoked cigarettes were correlated with the intensity of emotional distress.

The broad impact of the COVID-19 on self-reported daily behaviors and health in Chinese and US samples remains unknown. This study aimed to compare physical and mental health between people from the United States (U.S.) and China, and to correlate mental health parameters with variables relating to physical symptoms, knowledge about COVID-19, and precautionary health behaviors. To minimize risk of exposure, respondents were electronically invited by existing study respondents or by data sourcing software and surveys were completed via online survey platforms. Information was collected on demographics, physical symptoms, contact history, knowledge about COVID-19, psychologic parameters (i.e. IES-R; DASS-21), and health behaviors. The study included a total of 1445 respondents (584 U.S.; 861 China). Overall, Americans reported more physical symptoms, contact history, and perceived likelihood of contracting COVID-19. Americans reported more stress and depressive symptoms, while Chinese reported higher acute-traumatic stress symptoms. Differences were identified regarding face mask use and desires for COVID-19 related health information, with differential mental health implications. Physical symptoms that were possibly COVID-19 related were associated with adverse mental health. Overall, American and Chinese participants reported different mental and physical health parameters, health behaviors, precautionary measures, and knowledge of COVID-19; different risk and protective factors were also identified.